


The Lover and The Priestess

by queeninthenorth (misshiss)



Category: Now You See Me (2013)
Genre: F/M, Gen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-08-05
Updated: 2013-08-05
Packaged: 2017-12-22 12:36:44
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,309
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/913301
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/misshiss/pseuds/queeninthenorth
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>“So, what do you want me to do?“ he finally asked.</p><p>“Nothing. Not anymore. You have shown a sad lack of faith in yourself, The Eye and your friends. We cannot trust someone who will not trust as in return. We have given you six months to recover, but now it seems like you must be on your way.“</p><p>Banned from The Eye and contact with his friends, Daniel must find out what new job they have been given and save the day. Maybe. If he can finally make up his mind about what he really wants.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Lover and The Priestess

**Author's Note:**

> Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters from the movie. No copyright infringement is intended. This story is purely for entertainment purposes and no profit is being made.

Daniel woke up just before dawn. It had become a habit that was just as hard to break as ironing his underwear or wiping down the cutlery before he began eating. He never could get used to their new apartment, though. There was nothing wrong with it on the surface; spacious, beautiful furniture, regular food deliveries. It was the fact that it was in Cairo that bothered him.

 

After their final show they had been forced to leave the US, at least for some time, and The Eye had kindly made sure to take them to a place where they could just blend in, vanish as if by magic. People there didn’t ask any questions and if they did, mentioning The Eye was enough to shut anyone up.

 

Daniel walked into the kitchen, taking out the necessary ingredients for a classic continental breakfast. A girl would bring fresh bread soon. She always did at six thirty. Daniel liked that in a person; being reliable and turning up at a certain time.

 

When he turned to the fridge to take out a bottle of milk, Hiba was standing there. The old woman had been their Eye contact fort he last six months. She came and went as she pleased, but normally she didn’t sneak up on the Horsemen like that.

 

“Good morning, J-“

 

“A good morning to you and it’s Daniel.“

 

“Of course.“

 

Something about Hiba was making Daniel uneasy. The old woman had wrinkles deeper than the Mariana Trench, but there was something youthful and lively about the twinkling in her eyes nonetheless. Smiling, she reached out to take his hand. Daniel wasn’t normally a fan of being touched, but he let her. Hiba’s hands were just the right temperature, he thought. They weren’t hot and sweaty like Jack’s or cool and oddly dry like Merritt’s. They were a little like Henley’s. Perhaps perfect hand temperature had something to do with being a woman. Maybe not. He didn’t have time to think as Hiba made him sit on the white leather couch that dominated the living room.

 

Daniel wondered what she might want with him. The Eye had never demanded anything from them, but never taught them anything new either. Hiba occasionally came to see them, ask after their health and that was all. Daniel had no idea why she had come as early as this.

 

“The time has come to make decisions, Daniel. The card you were given at the beginning of all this, do you remember it?“

 

Daniel nodded. How could he ever forget The Lovers, which had kept him wondering for such a long time?

 

“Do you know what it means?“

 

“Change. Relationships. Decisions.“ Daniel shrugged. He knew what most magicians knew about these cards. They rarely needed Tarot decks for their shows and so his knowledge was patchy at best, but he still had an idea and he didn’t want to talk about it.

 

“They all played their roles right to the end,“ Hiba said softly. “But not you. You never made the decision you were supposed to make and you kept both yourself and the girl hanging in limbo.“

 

Daniel had thought that things between him and Henley had changed. Their fingers had entwined as they took the step into a new world together. This had meant everything and nothing and now it was all over anyway. Daniel had never followed through on this promise. Things had been a little awkward, but surely that was nothing The Eye needed to concern itself with. That was his failing and his alone.

 

“So, what do you want me to do?“ he finally asked.

 

“Nothing. Not anymore. You have shown a sad lack of faith in yourself, The Eye and your friends. We cannot trust someone who will not trust as in return. We have given you six months to recover, but now it seems like you must be on your way.“

 

Daniel was staring at the old woman, unable to grasp the full meaning of what she was trying to tell him. He, who had held together the team, who had made sure everything went the way it was meant to… he was the one who would be forced out. Shaking his head, he got up.

 

“If that is all, I’ll be on my way then.“

 

He saw no need to prolong this. If they didn’t want him, then he didn’t want them either. He had always been self-sufficient and he would find a way out of this predicament, too. Perhaps he would never be able to rise to fame in the US again, at least not without attracting unwanted attention, but there were other markets, other people who would love to be enchanted for a night. He did not need The Eye. He did not need _them_.

 

“Daniel.“ Hiba grabbed his wrist and as he looked down at her, the old woman’s eyes had taken on an expression he did not like. “Do not interfere.“

 

Without another word, Daniel pulled away from her and went to his room. They all had most of their things packed already, just in case they had to make a hasty retreat from the place. There was nothing for him here, nothing he still had to do. He grabbed his bag and walked out the door. He briefly paused outside Henley’s door. After all these years they would split for the last time and she wouldn’t even know it until after Daniel had left.

 

His fingers curling into fists, he willed his heart to slow down, his brain to return to its usual patterns of calm efficiency. Burdening Henley with this would not change anything. Seeing her again would do nothing to make this any easier, but he couldn’t help himself, not now. Perhaps something inside of him had changed, after all. He opened the door to her room and looked in, allowing himself only a couple of seconds to look at her. Henley had always been a sadly messy sleeper. Daniel barely wrinkled the sheets at night while Henley wrapped herself completely in them, only the top of her head visibly above the sheets. Somehow Daniel was unable to tear himself away from the sight of the red hair spilling out on top of the white sheets. He took another tentative step forward, then another and before he knew it, he was sitting next to her, his fingers tangled in her hair. He had been waiting for this precise moment for a very long time.

 

“Danny?“ Even half asleep Henley knew it was him.

 

“Sleep,“ he said flatly. “Just sleep.“

 

“Watching people in their sleep is creepy, you know? What-?“

 

Perhaps, Daniel thought, it was inevitable that his lips would find Henley’s right now. Perhaps some higher power had ordained that his hands would roam down her body, finally feeling her skin under his after all these years. And this higher power was what made Henley willing, what made her throw back her head, exposing her throat to him. Or was it all Henley who cried out as their bodies found release together?

 

He would never know.

 

He left her after he was done, left like he had not just changed everything. Henley probably thought he’d go and take a shower because that was what he usually did after extended body contact. How wrong she was. He had been ordered to go and he would, Henley or no Henley. It was just that part of him hadn’t wanted to go and part of him knew he wasn’t quite as cool about leaving as the surface-Daniel wanted himself and the rest of the world to believe.

 

_Do not interfere._

 

Hiba’s words were ringing in his head as he hailed a cab and went to the airport. It seemed like the Horsemen’s time of rest was over, one way or another.


End file.
